Usable Weapon Types

Class Skills

The Thief (盗賊 Tōzoku) is recurring combat/utility physical class in the Fire Emblem Series. Wielding Swords or Knives as their weapons of choice, the primary role of Thieves is to Steal and manipulate locks imposed on doors and chests. Enemy Thieves are capable of destroying villages, and unlike most other enemies, they often leave battles after accomplishing their self-motivated jobs of pillaging villages and/or looting chests.

The advent of Genealogy of the Holy War sees the Thief (シーフ Shīfu) class being able to promote for the first time in the series. Thief Fighters act as the promoted form of the class and are reputably capable fighters on the battlefield.

In Thracia 776, the Thief class is again able to promote into the Thief Fighter class. This incarnation of the class is particularly special for Lara; depending on whether the necessary requirements are met, she can promote from a Thief into either the Dancer or Thief Fighter classes. After this title, the Thief Fighter class is retired, though the later Rogue and Trickster classes fill the same niche of a promoted class that retains all functions of the original Thief class.

In TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga thieves are reverted to not being able to promote. In the game, there are two versions of the thief class: a playable version in the mercenary class category, and a NPC/Enemy version in the criminal class category. The enemy version has a slightly higher strength cap in exchange for a slightly lower speed cap.

In Path of Radiance, Volke is the only Thief who can promote into an Assassin. This promotion is done without an item, and is part of the main plot, in which Volke either leaves or is rehired as an Assassin for a fee of 50,000 gold.

There are no playable Thieves (盗人シーフShīfu) to promote in Radiant Dawn, effectively making it an enemy-only class. All playable characters in the Thief class line come pre-promoted as Rogues or, in Volke's case, as an Assassin.

In Awakening, Thieves are given the further option to promote into Trickster alongside Assassin.

Thieves are known as Outlaws in the localised versions of Fates and are treated as a Nohrian class. Outlaws wield Bows instead of Swords and Knives. They are given the further option to promote into Bow Knight alongside Adventurer, the Bow using equivalent to the Awakening Trickster. The Hoshidan counterparts to the Outlaw are the Archer class in terms of Reclassing, mirroring Outlaws' bow usage, and are similar to the Ninja class in terms of utility, even sharing the Locktouch skill with the later class.

The Thief class primarily focuses on agility in combat, and it is thence expected for them to dodge a vast majority of attacks waged against them. It is, however, not advisable to rely too heavily on them for combat purposes, as their signature low Strength will heavily impair their ability to damage foes. If interested in raising a Thief, it is recommended for the player to have other more durable units cover them while they take on severely weakened foes. Thieves should be treated as one would weaker Myrmidons; Thieves often score well in the Skill, Speed and Luck departments to offset their lower Strength, Defense and Resistance. While they are not able to inflict copious amounts of damage with each strike that they administer, their high Speed somewhat compensates for this, as it easily exceeds that which is possessed by most foes, allowing for them to perform double attacks while handily dodging counters. Thieves blessed with more Skill will further amplify their combat prowess, as they can potentially inflict massive damage with consistent volleys of critical hits. With proper raising, Thieves are capable of holding their own in combat, doling out heavy damage while remaining almost completely untouched.

If an offensive Thief is not what the player desires, players can still take advantage of their non-combat abilities. Thieves have higher Movement than other infantry units, making them good for quick assaults or reaching objectives quickly. They can see farther than other units in Fog of War battles, making them perfect for scouting purposes. They can also pilfer supplies from the enemy with their ability to Steal, robbing enemies of assets such as medicine or staves and granting the player easier access to them. With sufficient Strength, they can even steal weapons (depending on the game), especially valued if they can steal unique enemy equipment. These, alongside their ability to open doors and treasure chests without keys, make them valuable assets on any player's army. However, as they are physically frail, it is advisable to not leave them unguarded at all times.

When promoted into an Assassin, apart from the normal boost in all parameters, the Thief gains more points in HP, Resistance and Defense than any of their other stats. They lose their ability to steal from enemies, but retain the ability to use Lockpicks. They also gain the Lethality ability, thus making Assassins much more combat-oriented than Thieves. Rogues, conversely, keep all the abilities of the Thief class, becoming even more effective in that regard. Their price to pay is possessing weaker combat stats as compared to Assassins. However, they have a critical bonus, which, while not being as large as the Assassins, is still hefty when compared to that of Thieves.

Save for Lara and Thieves from the Tellius Series and from Genology of the Holy War, all Thieves throughout the series have had the same uniform; common clothing with little/no armour, a cloak to use as a disguise and a bag or sack containing their plunder (this isn't shown during battle sequences or cutscenes). Except those already mentioned, most Thieves come with minute differences between games; like in Fates, Outlaws are shown with a quiver of arrows. While generic male Thieves are shown with their hoods up, female Thieves wear a cloth headpiece to conceal their hair to avoid notice, although, this is only shown on map sprites and concept art.